A Trap for the Heart – The Tenth Commandment

A Trap for the Heart

The Tenth Commandment

Covetousness is a snare for our hearts.

Exodus 20:17

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Deuteronomy 5:21

“‘And you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’”

Luke 12:13-21; Ephesians 5:5; Colossians 3:5; 1 Timothy 6:6-8

“Peter, do you love me more than these?” Over and over Jesus challenged Peter to examine his heart. What did he really love? And how much did he love it. God calls us to submit to the searching of His Spirit with respect to what is in our hearts (Ps. 139:23, 24), for we are not always as guarded as we should be with respect to our affections.

“Guard your heart with all vigilance!” was Solomon’s instruction to his son. But Rehoboam did not. He loved the idea of being king and wielding power more than of loving God and serving God’s people. Rehoboam’s covetous heart tore the nation of Israel in two and set the people of God on a downward spiral of rebellion, dissolution, and destruction.

Covetousness is not just a harmless peccadillo, a silly act of self-indulgence. It is a trap for the heart which springs up to snare not only us, but the people we should be loving as well.

We are now accepting registrations for the course, Spiritual Maturity 1: Revival. This free, seven-session course by T. M. Moore allows you to study by yourself or with a mentor, and includes free resources from Patrick, Columbanus, Luther, and Edwards, among others. Visit The Ailbe Seminary for more information on this training opportunity.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.